Low estrogen and hashimotos?

[Auntbessy]

Hello I’m a 38 year old woman who has two kids. Ive always struggled with my female hormones since I started puberty. Anyway, I was wondering whether people out their could tell me about having low estrogen, how it has effected them and what treatments they use? I am only at the stage of suspecting I have a problem and imagine my GP will think I am fussing

anyway. My symptoms have been dryness down below, low libido, low mood and swings in blood sugar. I have had this problem for well over a year now and it has suddenly gone by me falling pregnant! I’m guessing my estrogen has picked up?

[Cooper27]

I've gone through a lot of stages of thinking I have low hormones, but when I've had them tested, it's never been a problem. It's worth getting it investigated, but the symptoms are pretty typical of quite a few illnesses, and could also be simple things like low zinc, low B vitamins etc, or the hashimotos itself.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Cooper27]

When you are in perimenopause, which can be for at least 10 years before menopause itself, it's very difficult to get accurate hormone blood tests done because the hormone levels change rapidly by the hour sometimes. Symptoms tell us a lot more.

Symptoms can overlap with other things. But dry vagina is a very good indicator of low oestrogen. However is sounds like you have managed to get pregnant, so it's still obviously wildly fluctuating.

See how you are when the baby is born and if you still feel rubbish, pursue it.

[Cooper27 in reply to FancyPants54]

I'm not sure if this response was meant for me? I'm 30, so hope I'm not perimenopause yet! I also have to kids.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Cooper27]

It was meant for you. To keep your eye on and not necessarily rely on the blood test results. Plenty of women are in perimenopause close to 30. It's early, but it's not unknown. Best to consider all things when there is an issue and not focus only on one.

[Cooper27 in reply to FancyPants54]

You've perhaps made a lot of leaps with your response if it was meant for me then, which is what's confused me. I have no kids, (not "to kids" like my first reply autocorrected to), I've not mentioned pregnancy or said my age or my history. The OP has though.

I've personally been suspecting hormone issues for 10 years already, since age 20, so guess menopause will be arriving any day now!

[crmavb]

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I was given progesterone vaginal pellets to help with dryness and hormonal imbalance. Although not proven. On the NHS we might get one blood test and to analyse the hormones, you need many. Jade eggs can be known to reduce dryness. Your experience also suggests getting older, peri menopause. I’ve found the healthier you live, the less prone you are to troubling symptoms. I’m 45 and by now our livers have had to process a lot. If we are kind to our liver then we are rewarded with a good working body.

[lucylocks in reply to crmavb]

Hi

do you mind me asking, but did your Doctor prescribe the progesterone pellets for hormonal imbalance. My daughter suffers from severe PMT and I wondered if the pellets would help with this.

Thank you.

[crmavb in reply to lucylocks]

I kept suffering from urine infections. I’m 45 and the vaginal wall becomes thinner. So the dr was keen for me to try the pessaries.

[lucylocks in reply to crmavb]

Oh I see, that must be really painful.

My daughter gets interstitial cystitis, which is really bad cystitis but no infection present.

Have the pessaries helped you with the infections?

Also I know when I was younger progesterone pessaries were used for PMT but I did not know if they were still used for it, hence my question

[crmavb in reply to lucylocks]

Yes I had the same, repeated cystitis that often showed no infection. I had 10 retreat prescriptions of antibiotics in four months followed by four months of continuous low daily dose of antibiotics. Then I followed dietary advice of the medical medium. Particularly which foods to avoid, so as not to feed the Epstein Barr virus. That really helped. Maybe the pessaries helped, but I tried not to use them unless I really thought it was necessary.

[Hidden in reply to crmavb]

Did you say Progesterone ? Not estriol I've had estriol vaginal cream or pessaries for V dryness from gp never heard of progesterone for this problem.

[crmavb in reply to Hidden]

You’re right it’s the estriol, sorry

[Lost_Girl]

Hi

Congratulations re your baby news.

My Menopause Doctor on fb is ran by a gp - Dr Newson is a highly informative site which might give you some insights.

[posthinking01]

Hi there - not necessarily oestrogen is the problem - because you say it got better with pregnancy - sounds more like low progesterone.

[HashiFedUp]

If you have under active thyroid it could be low testosterone. I have that same problem. Low estrogen is not necessarily a bad thing as lots of estrogen makes Hashimoto’s etc worse. You can get them all tested. If you tell the doctor you have no libido, then ask about hormone tests. Shouldn’t think it’s menopause at your age! : )

[Auntbessy]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the issue! It will ask for a blood test once things settle down after this pregnancy.